Question
Biology Question on Molecular Basis of Inheritance
Which one of the following makes use of RNA as a template to synthesize DNA ?
A
Reverse transcriptase
B
DNA dependent RNA polymerase
C
DNA polymerase
D
RNA polymerase
Answer
Reverse transcriptase
Explanation
Solution
Reverse transcriptase is an enzyme found in retroviruses like HIV, and it is capable of reverse transcription, which is the process of using an RNA template to synthesize a complementary DNA strand. This enzyme is essential for the replication of retroviral genomes and is widely used in molecular biology techniques like reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to convert RNA into DNA for analysis.
So, the correct option is (A): Reverse Transcript